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How to Keep Your Mind Sharp and Healthy

We all know how important it is for us to take care of ourselves. As we age, this becomes increasingly more important. Incorporating new diets and exercise plans all help to ensure that our bodies have the TLC they need. While it is important for us take care of our bodies, it is equally important for us to take care of minds.

adults reading a book
Our mind is what keeps us who we are and retains all our precious memories. As we age, we tend to have 'senior moments' in which we forget why we entered a room or where we parked our car at the grocery store. To help protect our brains from this, Visiting Angels Barrington has complied a list of ways to keep your brain sharp and health.

Join a Book Club

Book clubs let us get together with friends to discuss various topics on our favorite books. When we actively engage in discussions, it can be fun to share your thoughts as well as hear what your friends have to say. Also, the act of reading, alone, is beneficial for our minds. It's been stated by Dr. Alan Castel that reading as an older adult helps to reduce memory loss by more than 30%.

Write Your Thoughts

Closely related to reading, writing is another great way to keep your mind stimulated. When we write about our younger days, it forces us to actively remember key events and names. You don't have to be a professional writer either. Just the act of putting your thoughts onto paper is more than enough to keep your mind sharp.

Bring Out the Board Games

Playing board games and completing puzzles are a fun way to challenge yourself. They have been shown to stimulate our minds which makes for a great mental exercise. When we strategize on how to win, we are stimulating our minds and activating the parts responsible for problem solving and planning. You can gather your friends to join in and play against each other. Whether you're playing Scrabble or Sudoku, cross word puzzles or a card game, you're bound to have fun.

Exercises for the Mind

Exercises like yoga and Tai Chi have been shown to help with brain activity.  They both require us to control our breathing and maintain our center of balance. It's also been noted that these exercises contribute in having a greater cortical thickness in the left prefrontal cortex - which just means that yoga and Tai Chi help in support memory retention!

Keeping our minds sharp becomes more important the more we age. Luckily, there are ways that help us stay on top of things. While aging at home may not the the easiest thing to do, there are solutions.
Visiting Angels Barrington is an in-home senior care provider located in the northwest suburbs of Illinois. If you or someone you know is struggling to age in place, let Visiting Angels provide the needed in-home care.

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Location: Barrington, IL 60010, USA

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